The Kawyaw of Myanmar

The Kawyaw of Myanmar, numbering approximately 12,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous community primarily located in Kayah State, Myanmar (Burma). They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Manumanaw Karen is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Kawyaw

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Manumanaw Karen (kxf)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 12,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009479
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kawyaw of Myanmar

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

45%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Manumanaw Karen
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Kawyaw Speakers

Media Resources in Manumanaw Karen:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Manumanaw Karen:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓
Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Manumanaw Karen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kawyaw are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Kawyaw:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Kawyaw of Myanmar

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that the promise in Revelation 7:9-10 will encourage believers from among them or from nearby people groups to share the gospel with people who have never learned it.

Kawyaw Across Countries (ROP3 - 106284) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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